Westview Condominiums
2804 Rio Grande,
Austin,
TX
78705
512-476-1976 save favorite
512-476-1976 save favorite
AVERAGE RATING
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COULD be OK, but Mngmnt sucks
From: jkwdoc@hotmail.comDate posted: 5/9/2003
Years at this apartment: 2002 - 2003
This complex is pretty old...built in the late 70's, I would say. Nonetheless, its pretty good construction. I think the problems that we have at this complex are rooted in our management. This complex is owned/managed by Ely Properties. Mitch Ely, the owner, is the Anti-Christ. READ YOUR LEASE! There are some hidden clauses in the lease that you need to be aware of before you sign. For one, you have to pay for your own cleaning when you move out..regardless of the condition it was in when you moved in. You have to show them the receipt from the carpet cleaners and a professional maid. They also say that the resident will be responsible for pest control. There's a good reason for this: this complex is the roach nest for West Campus. The bottom level is the parking garage and a large wooden storage unit...of which you can't use. This wooden storage closet unit is all just wet, rotten wood...a Taj Majal for roaches. They also have a pretty healthy ant infestation. I was able to quell both of these problems with weekly spraying of Ortho Home Defense bug spray, but its pretty sick that the management won't fix a complex-wide problem.
Another issue is the pipes. Austin water sucks as it is, but the pipes in this place are old, and the water comes out even worse. It smells like you just washed your dog in it, but didn't use any soap. I recommend a good water filter. Also, be wary of the ice maker. We had black ice cubes for about the first 10 runs until we turned it off. The water was ok, but the fridge was a POS and the ice maker was screwed up. Good luck getting management to shell out a few hundred to get a new fridge (refer to Anti-Christ comment). There are some mold problems, especially on the walls behind the toilets and around the attic AC units.
This place backs up to a frat house. Expect a hell of a lot of noise at all hours. Room to room sound insulation is pretty decent, and concrete separates the floors, so you don't get a lot of noise from above or below. The management tells the ground maintenance guys to come by at 8am. Let me define ground maintenance: blowing trash around with leaf blowers. These things can wake the dead, and considering how hard I sleep, its exactly what they do. Although there have been many requests to get the guys to come by later, management has not cooperated (again, refer to the Anti-Christ comment).
Although the parking garage was undoubtedly designed by an Aggie, there is usually a place to park. Beware the shady deals that Ely works out with the towing companies. Cars without permits can and will get towed, and they get towed without any phone calls. Ely just tells them what the permit looks like and the tow truck guys cruise by and look every evening. They get someone every day.
They define a 'close' walk to campus quite loosely. Its a good 12 minutes to the edge of campus. Its a good 20 to main campus. Not so bad, but not so fun in August, January, or when its raining like hell. You can catch the shuttle, but its 7 minutes to get to the WC stop, and by the time an empty bus comes, you could have walked back and forth to class.
Don't expect anything fantastic out of this management company. They would LOVE to screw you over, like they've done to me on more than one occasion this year. My advice, get to know a lawyer over in Student Legal Services. You'll probably have to send a couple of letters to Ely for them to take action on anything. The rumor is that this place may have a new owner, so things may improve, but when they realize what a mess they've inherited, they'll either fix it up pretty nice, or sell it off to the first bidder. There are worse places to live, but there are definitely also better ones. Little pricey for a moderately small 2-2, $1150.
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